


SMH's #7,590,547,810 Fan

by asimpleline18



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Canon Compliant, background Jack/Bitty - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-21 22:21:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13153209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asimpleline18/pseuds/asimpleline18
Summary: Colin (Fry Guy) keeps having run ins with the Samwell Men's Hockey team. He can't understand why the school likes these jerks other than for their awesome parties. They're loud, obnoxious, and eat all the food in the cafeteria. He just can't escape them!





	SMH's #7,590,547,810 Fan

**Author's Note:**

  * For [imamaryanne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/imamaryanne/gifts).



Colin started to second guess his life choices leading to this moment. May from the women's volleyball team invited him to the Samwell men's hockey game with the rest of the volleyball team. March was dating one of the captains and April was good friends with the other. It was only Colin's second year at Samwell but the SMH's house parties were already legendary and that's how he was introduced to the women's volleyball team. It didn't hurt that he had a crush on May. However, he's sitting in the stands and two guys behind him started yelling at nothing, flinging fries into his face as he turned around to see what the commotion was.

Nothing happened on the ice. Maybe some shoving but certainly no goal. May leaned over and whispered, "That's Jack Zimmermann in the navy sweatshirt and the other guy is— well I was never given his real name but everyone calls him Shitty."

"I wonder why," Colin replied sarcastically.

"It's not because of that," May laughed. She was so cute when she laughed. "He's so legendary that even his professors call him Shitty. Everyone enrolled in the same classes as him thought they were going to finally learn his name. Instead, he allegedly would stroll in, high five the prof, and the prof would call his nickname during role instead of his registered name."

"That's intense. No wonder the hockey team has so many rumors floating around," Colin said.

"They're a bunch of good guys though. They routinely volunteer to walk students home from the library late at night during midterms and finals," she said. "I've walked home with Ollie a few times. He's a junior."

Colin shrugged. "I guess they're cool. I like going to their parties and stuff. Plus, it seems like they try to do good around them. I'll try to keep from judging them. I know your two teams are pretty close."

"Yep," May said popping the 'p' and they went back to watching the game.

* * *

Even though he made a promise to not judge the hockey team, he couldn't help it. Colin started noticing them around campus _all the time_ now. They were the loudest in the cafeteria especially at breakfast. Colin tried very hard to get up earlier enough that he would beat them there. If he heard them already there, he knew he would walk up to the cafeteria counter and most of the hot food would be picked over already. He's pretty sure he saw the tall blonde with glasses take whole bowls of hard boiled eggs. Colin usually tried to sneak a few of those out to make egg salad sandwiches since they were easy and kind of filling.

Breakfast those days was usually cereal or oatmeal with strawberries. Those foods were the only ones the hockey team wouldn't touch. Even the bananas would be picked over which he preferred over strawberries on his food. Only the most bruised ones remained looking sad in the fruit basket next to the apples and oranges.

Colin avoided dinner most nights unless he knew the team was on a roadie. If there was a decent meal to be had in the cafeteria, one could expect it to be razed by the men's hockey team. Sure, the cooks would replenish the food but it wasn't alway convenient to wait for that to happen.

* * *

If all of that wasn't bad enough, Colin noticed them studying in the library a lot. The captains seemed to have a table that was considered "their table" on the second floor all the time. It didn't matter how packed the library was. If they showed up, they were magically setting up camp within ten minutes of arriving. Most of the time, Ransom would curl up under the desk instead of sitting at it. His partner would continue on with his own work, seemingly ignorant of the panic attack occurring under the table.

March and April would join them a lot too. Colin watched them enviously as he squished into a table with three other strangers. If he had a friend table, he could spread his study materials over it too without having to be mindful of other people's space. Sometimes, the short blonde team member -- Bitsy? Bitty? -- would bring pie. The library had a strict policy against food on the second floor which was well enforced. He must have bribed the librarians to look away as they were never scolded for their food.

There were also a lot of days that Colin was sure the short blonde was watching hockey games in the library while he was "studying." Spontaneous yes's and whoops would ring out across the library those days. He would try to seem considerate after but the most considerate thing would _not to be in the library in the first place_.

The past Saturday was the worst. Bitsy and the team manager sat in an alcove. When Bitsy screamed, the manager didn't seem to do anything to scold him. Instead, she whisper excitedly with him. Colin tried to send vibes to the universe to make them leave and stop bothering the people around them. That plan didn't work so Colin put his other earbud in and turned his music up as loud as he could stand it. There were a few more muffled yells before the duo decided to pack up and head out. However, Colin suspected the game was over by that time and it wasn't an act of mercy by the universe.

* * *

The hockey team didn't stop at ruining just the cafeteria. Jerry's was also a difficult place to frequent without running into the hockey team. They were out to ruin every food experience Samwell had to offer. Colin gave it to them that it was a sports bar and they were a sports team but they frequented it much more than one would guess a bunch of athletes should. Beer and bar food cold never be considered the most nutritious.

Colin liked to go to brunch with his one class group. They found their groove early in the project and got along really well as a result of it. Their less formal meetings were held Saturday mornings over brunch at Jerry's. Sometimes he would see some of the quieter members of the team eating there. It was Jack and that Bitsy guy. They were usually at a two person table at the corner talking quietly over their plates.

This week was markedly different. The two he usually saw there were at a booth table instead of their normal two person table. Colin's stomach fell as he realized they would be joined by more people. He crossed his fingers that they were waiting for parents or something. Just because the hockey team seemed to be tether together in a group didn't mean these two were waiting for the rest of the team.

Those thoughts were quickly dashed as the two captains walked in with that Shitty guy and the intimidating, flip-cup champion manager.

Surprisingly, they were quiet for a more than a minute before bedlam broke out like normal. From what Colin could hear, the commotion was about settling a bet. He couldn't imagine what they would bet about but he mused that maybe it was about who could be the loudest because that's what they seemed to be competing for this particular morning. Thankfully it quieted down again but Colin's mood already turned sour for having to deal with the SMH in his vicinity this early in the morning.

* * *

Sitting in the stands of the Falcs' arena, Colin wonders if it's not Samwell men's hockey team and their fans that are annoying but all hockey fans. He was dragged along by another Seattle transplant to game three of the Stanley Cup finals after the guy's original guest had a last minute thing. Colin stayed around Samwell for a summer internship. He thought it would be really fun and even had a Schooner's jersey that he received on Christmas. It was to "remind him of his true hockey team" or something. People who rooted for the expansion teams really took _their_  expansion team seriously.

The Schooners were already whispering about a possible sweep citing that the Falcs were still such a young team. It quickly became apparent that was not the case. It was a close game and hard fought on both sides but in the end, the Falcs won in their home stadium. Somehow, Colin ended up being pelted by fries _again_ by fellow fans of his own team.

It was crazy. As soon as he would brush some off, more would land on him. He gave up and felt fries pile higher and higher on his head. Colin resentfully watched the Falcs celebrate their win right in front of his section.

Hockey games just weren't fun.

* * *

While Colin didn't ever want to go to a hockey game again, he watched the rest of the Stanley Cup series on TV. He was still excited that his hometown team was so close to winning the Cup. It felt like such a rite of passage for an expansion team to even get this far. Kent Parson blew it out of the water when he helped the Aces win their first Cup his rookie year. Now, Jack was poised to do the same for the Falcs but Colin still couldn't help but root against the Samwell alum.

He put on his jersey for every game and tried to watch the same TV in the same chair. He wasn't normally this superstitious but this was the ritual he did before he went to the game and that turned out to be a disaster. Game four went to the Falcs again though Mashkov was injured about halfway through. It seemed to propel the Falcs to do better and they completely dominated after that.

They carried the momentum from games three and four through to a win in game five. Colin hoped being back in Seattle would work against the Falcs as it had during the first two games. He was sorely mistaken as the Scooners recorded another L. For game six, Colin moved his chair over a little. Maybe it wasn't in exactly the right spot. The Falcs had their first chance at winning the Stanley Cup. Something had worked as the Schooners pushed the series to a game seven.

Colin started the game out at the edge of his seat. The Schooners did their best to maintain control of the puck for as much time as possible. They succeeded in that but in spite of it, the Falcs still managed to tie the score going into the third period. Each team managed another goal and there was less than a minute on the clock. It looked like the game would go into overtime and then Zimmermann got the puck. With a powerful swing, he shot the puck gracefully into the goal just under the goalie's left glove with only seconds left. The crowd erupted into cheers and the players lined up for the obligatory face off. As soon as the clock struck zero, blue and white confetti started raining down on the ice and the first few rows of seats. The Falcs' benches emptied and every player who was able joined a giant celly at center ice.

As much as Colin wanted Seattle to win, he was happy that an alum from his school was the one to beat them. He was aware of The Jack Zimmermann story and he hoped this helped close the book on that for Jack. Friends and family members started to flood the ice in preparation for the Cup ceremony. Someone helped Mashkov limp out on his crutches to be with the rest of his team. From the camera angle the channel was using, Colin saw the blonde guy Jack always hung out run up to Jack and hug him. After what looked to be a brief exchange, they kissed right there on center ice. Colin's jaw dropped. He just witnessed two men kiss each other on the field of play of one of the more homophobic professional sports. His heart swelled in his chest as he witnessed this touching scene.

Maybe there were some hockey players who deserved all the happiness in the world.

* * *

Colin walked campus during the beginning of his junior year. The men's hockey team had long been downgraded from "hate their guts" to "minor annoyance" at some point over the summer. They were still the loudest people in whatever public space Colin also occupied. He got better at beating them to meals.

The real turning point was when he was jogging around the pond one autumn morning. He was minding his own business and listening to his music when he realized he was jogging through a gaggle of Canadian geese which had been resting there on their way south for the winter. He was at the point in his run where he was starting to get tired and he tried to think of a way to get out of the situation he was in without having to resort to sprinting as fast as he could through that part of the trail.

The geese were starting to gang up on him as a group of the guys from the hockey team ran up behind him. The larger group was intimidating enough to scare the geese away from Colin. The short blonde one, Bitty, came up to him as Colin panted from pushing himself too much.

"Hi," he said cheerfully. "Are you okay? We saw the geese ganging up on you and sped up to help."

He nodded as to avoid trying to talk as he got his breath back. "Thanks. I think I was about to be in real trouble."

The redhead joined. "Yeah. They're really nasty this time of year. Some people say Canadian geese are the receptacles for all Canadian negativity which leaves them being very polite."

Bitty elbowed him. "Anyway, would you like to run with us? It'd be safer to stick together in a group. These geese are mean but not that dumb to mess with this many people."

Colin froze for a moment and nodded. "Sure! My name's Colin," he said as he stuck out his hand.

Bitty took it. "Nice to meet you. I'm Eric or Bitty. Actually, Bitty's pretty much all I go by now."

"Nice to meet you too," Colin replied. "So, how much further do you have to go because I usually make a full lap."

"Don't worry, we'll follow you," Bitty said smiling.

Colin guessed the men's hockey team really wasn't that bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry this is late. I had a different fic lined up and I just couldn't get through it. I think this turned out way better and I hope my Swawesome Santa likes it! <3


End file.
